On the sidelines
by DarkLikeitornot
Summary: It was dangerous, to throw away what you should do for something you'd rather do, sometimes. It was even more dangerous to do that when you're in love. Still, she couldn't help it.


Hello, everyone. I decided for something a little different, still involving Cabernet, because I felt like it. Probably won't finish this, but we'll see. Based on her line of not taking classes, as she was so busy battling instead, twisted around into a TasteOfAfricaShipping fanfiction. Is this the first fanfiction for that ship?

Chapter 1: Discreet Duties.

She scooted behind the wooden panelling by the corridor stealthily, or so she believed. Every so often, she stole a few glances at the object of her desire.

_This feels wrong_, she mused quietly, but she didn't quite finish off there. Every muscle displayed on his body was highlighted by little drops of sweat that were roughly rubbed off by a cream cotton towel. Her mouth was left slightly open at the sight- she never thought that this would be attractive to her. He jerked his head over to his signature Pokemon, or as she would call it, his vintage, Sawk. It nabbed all the attention from its trainer, as even the Don George of this particular Battle Club was impressed with its stamina and raw power. However, she barely glimpsed at it for a moment. There was no need, when that muscular figure was near, glistening beautifully with sweat...

She wrenched her eyes shut and bit her tongue in displeasure. Sometimes, she wished she could just wash these filthy thoughts away. She opened them again to see Don George stride over to the hunched boy, who was bending over for some cool water in a plastic cup. "Well done, Stephan," He announced, clasping a coarse hand on his shoulder, "See you tomorrow. For now, get some rest." Stephan nodded, and called Sawk into its pokeball.

With that, Burgundy knew that it was the time to slink away quickly.

She frowned under the sheets, irritated with herself. Technically her initial motive to venture out to the local Battle Club was actually to become more comptent as a battler, as well as slotting in class time over at the Institute, which was located in this town. Her true rival- scratch that, _arch-nemesis_, Cilan was a former Gym Leader at the Striaton City Gym, and a great way to develop a bond, as every good Connoisseur would realise, was in the form of battle. She would also learn more of Pokemon's attitudes in battle and be able to taste them from there.

However, now she was beginning to compensate her studies with... this little hobby, she labelled it embarrassedly. It was strange, bizarre and not to mention totally purposeless. The boy in question, Stephan, was a rival of Ash's, which was Cilan's snotty little friend whose team was and still is completely dreadful- she was defiant about her opinion, even if it wasn't "professional", it was still an expert evaluation, by all accounts. Burgundy had barely spoken to Stephan, though, but he stepped in as their referee during the last tournament she competed in, the Club Battles. From that only, did she gather that he was totally unafraid for having a bit of fun; he was also jolly, even if he did side with Cilan in the end of it all. Still, he said nothing about her wishes to give up and accepted it. A gentleman... in a pair of cargo pants and a vest. Not exactly what she had in mind for a man.

Hey, didn't Cilan comment about this before? Something "profound" about the risk of disadvantageous match-ups turning out into a far greater taste than expected?

She tutted. _Well, he's bound to get at least one thing right, _she thought to herself, as she turned her head on the soft pillow, _he couldn't be an A-Class Connoisseur for nothing_.

Her whole stomach clenched on the way to the Battle club that day, as if she was preparing for some grand shoplifting spree. She whizzed out of the lesson that morning as soon as it was over, just grabbing her textbooks and scouting out the door before the lecturer had even stood up to exit. The air was delicately misty, and Burgundy made no time in zipping over to the electronic doors that slid open for her automatically, pushing her into her deliciously thrilling habit. Even though she had a purpose, and that was to train, her thrill wasn't due to that. However, Burgundy was definitely new to this stalking business, and in fact, it was a trait that hindered even her Connoisseuse skills that caught her off-guard that day. Stephan never mentioned exactly what time he'd pop in to the Battle Club. The small details, _the small details_...

Therefore, when she arrived, she instantly halted in her tracks, to see a muscular figure with flaming, gelled-back crimson hair, beaming in surprise.

"Burgundy!" He exclaimed, happy to see her. "Nice meeting you here!" She almost smiled to herself at that; the last time she saw him, she almost bit his head off, and here he was, being cordial to her. Perhaps meeting him in the flesh wasn't so awful... it was better than lurking behind a wall, anyways... she could feel herself glow almost as crimson as his hair. Damn it.

"Oh, hey, Stephan," She croaked, her voice high and unnatural. She probably pronounced his name incorrectly, but then again, everyone did. "Um, I didn't know you'd be here." What a liar she was.

He guffawed at that. "It's Ste-_fawn, _but eh, I'm well used to it. Oh, wow, well yeah, the Battle Club is like my second home! Been training out here for my next Gym battle, Sawk and I are getting pumped!"

His excitement, it was so endearing. She quickly altered her facial expression, to a neutral tone and tried to force those thoughts out of her head.

"Oh, well, please, I'm formidable myself, d'accord?" She posed, wishing to impress him secretly. He nodded, acceptingly, which made a grin play on her lips. He was about to respond, but loud footsteps intruded in on them.

"Ah, Stephan, there you are! Oh, I've seen this young lady around, training!" He nodded at her, and Burgundy shrunk at this, abashed, but he didn't notice this. "You know what? I've seen both of your skills, and maybe you'd learn even more if you battled one another!"

As much she as expected this from a Don George, it still made her groan under her breath. Especially that Stephan's expression told her that he was all up for it.

"Yeah, let's go for it, Burgundy!" He announced. No point in backing out after she had bragged about her team.

"Fine," She mumbled, sheepishly, and then declared in her attempt at haughtiness, "This is just to prepare for my revenge against Cilan, that's all!"

Remember to review, please and thanks. Yeah, it's also on my Tumblr, if you know it.


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